Blue Star Families 2012 Military Family Lifestyle Survey Executive Summary

8/2/2019 Blue Star Families 2012 Military Family Lifestyle Survey Executive Summary

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Foreword

April 27, 2012

One year ago, First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden launched Joining Forces, a ground-breaking initiative toraise awareness among Americans regarding the service, sacrifice, and needs of our nation's service members, veterans,and military families. Joining Forces focuses on employment, education, and wellness, issues that touch all of us whoare members of the broader Military Family.

The results of the 2012 Blue Star Families' Military Family Lifestyle Survey reinforce that Joining Forces indeed has theright focus. Over the last year, this new initiative has inspired companies across the nation to hire more than 50,000veterans and military spouses. Fourteen states have passed license portability laws that support military spouses who

move across the country with their service member. More than six hundred medical and nursing schools aredeveloping curriculum to train the next generation of doctors and nurses on the healthcare needs of military families,including the conditions of war's invisible wounds: post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injuries. All told, JoiningForces has inspired more than thirteen million hours of volunteer service in communities across America through theBlue Star Families' honor card program.

These actions demonstrate the importance of partnerships: from public-private sector collaboration to community ledpartnerships, all striving to help our military families. Marty and I believe that private sector organizations, oftenblessed with ample resources and expertise, will play an essential role in our nations collective efforts to care for ourmilitary families who have endured so much over the last ten years.

I encourage you to read this report and to use the data to find ways to reach and help those military families in yourcommunity. Thank you to Blue Star Families and your partnering organizations for conducting this survey. Ourservice members and veterans have done so much for us, and now it is our turn to help them. Organizations such asBlue Star Families ask us, as a nation, to answer that call to serve our military families and to build upon the sacredbond of trust between the military and our nation.

Deanie DempseyBlue Star Spouse and Mom


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BackgroundThe men and women serving in the military and the families supporting them are an integral part of Americas nationalsecurity. Every day military families are serving on their own front lines at home. They are sustaining themselves andsupporting service members who are preparing, deploying, returning or reintegrating after combat. These families arethe backbone of a strong and able United States military. Therefore, we must listen carefully and address the concernsof the military families who play a central and critical role in supporting United States forces while ensuring readinessfor current and future national security needs.

In November 2011, Blue Star Families fielded an online survey of over 4,000 military family members to determine themajor issues facing todays military families.

For this survey, Blue Star Families was honored to have the assistance of the following partner organizations: theAmerican Red Cross, the United Service Organizations (USO), the Armed Forces YMCA, Military.com, MilitarySpouse Magazine, Association of the United States Army (AUSA), Service Nation, the Military Child EducationCoalition (MCEC), the Military Spouse Corporate Career Network (MSCCN), Military Officers Association ofAmerica (MOAA), National Guard Association of the United States (NGAUS), Operation Homefront, the ReserveOfficers Association (ROA), Student Veterans of America (SVA), National Military Family Association (NMFA), theVeterans Innovation Center and Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW). Additionally, dozens of websites, blogs, militaryfamily advocates, and organizations promoted the survey through their memberships and networks. The widedistribution of this survey through our partners and others in the military community greatly contributed to the highlevel of response, and helped this survey reach a comprehensive sample of military personnel and their families.

2012MilitaryFamilyLifestyleSurvey

ExecutiveSummaryThefullreportisavailableatwww.bluestarfam.org


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SurveyRespondentsThe respondents to this survey represent a diverse cross section of military family members from all branches ofservices, ranks and regions, both within the United States and overseas military installations.

Survey respondents were asked to identify their primary relationship with the military based on the service memberthrough whom they receive Department of Defense benefits, if applicable. Nearly sixty percent of the surveysrespondents had more than one immediate family member affiliated with the military, and sixty-eight percent were

spouses. Seventeen percent of the respondents were service members, six percent were parents and five percent werechildren of service members.

More than seventy-five percent of the survey respondents were affiliated with active-duty military personnel, fourpercent were affiliated with the Reserve, another five percent with the Drilling Guard, Drilling Reserve or the InactiveDrilling Guard. Twelve percent were affiliated with retired veterans and three percent with non-retired veterans.Sixty-five percent of respondents were affiliated with enlisted service personnel, and four percent of surveyrespondents resided in overseas military installations. Survey respondents residing in the United States were fairlyevenly distributed across the country.

Eighty-five percent of respondents were female, and sixty-four percent of respondents had minor children living at

home. Twenty-three percent of respondents identified themselves as a minority race or ethnic group, and eighty-sevenpercent of respondents have completed some college or achieved an associates, bachelors or graduate degree. Sixty-four percent of survey respondents were between the ages of twenty-five and forty-four.

This demographic background sets the foundation for the story of military families, a diverse group of individuals fromall walks of life. Military families are drawn together by their commitment to service and the experiences they share ofloving someone in the military.


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SurveyOverviewTodays military families have experienced a decade of war. There is a new generation of military children who havegrown up in this new normal, while service members and their families have adapted new communicationtechnologies like Skype and Facebook to adjust to the increased time spent apart. At their core, these same militaryfamilies are central to mission readiness and for the first time ever have even been referred to in relation to nationalsecurity, a reflection of their key role in sustaining a functioning military. Perhaps this is because there is a growingawareness that military families are directly affected by national security and defense polices to an extent much greater

than non-military families.

The high OPTEMPO of the past decade has placed enormous stress on the military and their families, who shoulder theburdens of war and strain on the countrys military forces in a very personal way. The multiple and sustaineddeployments over the last ten years have impacted mental health and wellness as well as relationship development. Forevery period of time that family members are separated by deployment, there is a related block of time the servicemember will be on temporary duty (TDY) or trainings that will also keep them away from family. While deploymentsare stressful due to the combat factor, the impact of pre-deployment activity also takes its toll on the ability of familiesto be together. When military families encounter additional challenges like impediments to resources and supportwhen seeking childcare, adequate health care, and spouse employment, enduring financial difficulties or feeling isolatedfrom their communities, the strain can become overwhelming and the family suffers. And, as military leadership has

known for decades (as evidenced by ever expanding and evolving programs to support military families), when themilitary family unit is in distress, service members cannot focus on their mission.

The crucial role that military families play in national security makes providing empirical data on them vitallyimportant, especially now. Blue Star Families survey findings and other research targeting the military familyexperience provide valuable and needed insight for policymakers, government and military leadership, and the largercivilian community on the topical issues that military families feel are important. With a clearer understanding ofwhere military families are, regarding a host of life cycle issues, everyone can do their part to help promote healthierfamilies, aid military readiness, and contribute to a strong national defense.

The five issues identified by respondents as top concerns for military families are pay/benefits, with emphasis on the

changes to retirement benefits, the effects of deployment on children, general OPTEMPO, military spouseemployment, and issues surrounding Post Traumatic Stress (PTS), combat stress, and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI).Additional areas, which warrant more examination and action given the feedback from respondents in this survey,include financial literacy, suicide prevention, exceptional family member programming, care-giving and communityengagement. This years survey also continued to track how military families support each other, seek out resources,and stay connected to their communities and to their service members. These are all issues that play a part in retentionand readiness, and in the overall health and wellness of our military community.

Unfortunately, the gap between our military and civilian communities continues to persist, with ninety-five percent ofrespondents agreeing with the statement, The general public does not truly understand or appreciate the sacrificesmade by service members and their families. It is Blue Star Families goal that the following findings will help

bridge this gap in understanding and provide a foundation for renewed engagement between our service members,their families, and the communities in which they live.


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SurveyHighlights

TopIssuesChanges to Retirement Benefits and Pay/Benefits: Thirty-one percent of respondents listed changes to retirementbenefits as their top military family life issue while twenty percent of respondents cited pay/benefits as their topconcern. When veterans were asked about concerns related to separating from the military, twenty-five percent citedemployment opportunities as their top concern, nineteen percent cited changes to health care access, and six percent

cited issues with civilian licensing or certification.

Effects of Deployments on Children: Seven percent of respondents listed effects of deployment on their children astheir top concern. When asked a separate question about overall concerns for their military children, twenty-threepercent of parents mentioned deployment in their responses. Fifty-two percent said there were some negative effectsto deployment, but some positive effects too. Forty-one percent felt like their community did not embraceopportunities to help their military children.

OPTEMPO: Seven percent of respondents listed the operational tempo of the military as their top concern.Deployments account for half the total time service members have spent away from their families since September 11,2001 while trainings and TDYs are also significant contributors to family separations. And, the length of time spent

apart was found to impact a respondents support of continued military service for their service member. Fifty-twopercent of respondents who had experienced thirteen to twenty-four months of deployment separation supportedcontinued military service whereas support dropped to fifteen percent for those who had experienced thirty-sevenmonths or more of separation.

Military Spouse Employment: Fifty-seven percent of spouses felt that being a military spouse had a negative impact ontheir ability to pursue a career. Of the sixty percent who were not currently employed, fifty-three percent wanted tobe. When asked their reasons for not working, ninety-two percent mentioned job market alignment and sixty-sevenpercent cited childcare issues. Twenty-seven percent of spouses had faced challenges with their state licenses,

Whatarethetopmilitaryissuesthatmostconcernyou?

*Optionnotincludedin2010survey.**Optionnotrankedastopissuein2010.Slightpercentagedifferences

occuramongthebottomfourissueswhenpercentagesareshowntothetenths:EffectofDeploymentonKids=

7.4%OPTEMPO=6.5%;SpouseEmployment/Education=6.0%;PTSD/CombatStress/TBI=5.8%.


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certifications or other professional qualifications due to military-oriented moves across state lines, and twenty-sixpercent currently are or have operated their own business as a military spouse.

PTS/TBI/Combat Stress: Six percent of respondents listed PTS/TBI/Combat Stress as their top military family lifeissue. Three percent of respondents reported that their service member had been diagnosed with TBI while elevenpercent reported that their service member was diagnosed with PTS. However, twenty-six percent reported that,regardless of diagnosis, their service member had exhibited symptoms of PTS. Of those who reported that their service

member had exhibited symptoms of PTS, sixty-two percent had not sought treatment.

AdditionalFindingsOfNoteChildrens Education: Nintety-two percent of respodents were confident they could help their children make positivein-school decisions regarding their childs future during a spouses deployment. However, sixty-four percent said theirchilds participation in extracurricular activies was negatively impacted by deployment. Sixty-three percent ofrespondents reported that their childrens school did not utilize a Military School Liaison, forty-seven percent ofrespondents reported that their childrens school do not find opportunities to celebrate and include the service memberin the the classroom, and forty-one percent said their childs school was not responsive to unique military situations, allindicators that more needs to be done in the area of military child education.

EFMP: Seventeen percent of respondents said their family was currently enrolled in the EFMP, while thirteen percentsaid they were not currently enrolled but thought their family would qualify. Twenty percent of EFMP familyrespondents reported that EFMP enrollment has had a negative impact on their service member's career. The top threechallenges associated with moving for families with exceptional family members were finding new doctors andtherapists (forty-three percent), TRICARE (referrals and prescriptions) (thirty-seven percent), and educationalaccomodations (thirty-four percent).

Suicide Prevention: The percentage of family members who have considered suicide (ten percent) is almost equal tothe percentage of service members who have considered suicide (nine percent). Forty-two percent of respondents feltthat the Department of Defense was handling the issue of suicide poorly. Fifty-seven percent thought the top priorityin prevention efforts should be aimed at preventative training for frontline supervisors and commanders.

Financial Literacy: When asked about financial education within the military community, fifty-three percent ofrespondents said their unit provided financial education information and they knew where to go with questions. Sixty-two percent said they wanted greater emphasis on preventative financial education and sixty-eight percent felt stressabout debt, savings or their overall financial condition. Sixty-four percent owed less than $5,000 on their credit cards.

Volunteerism and Civic Engagement: Eighty-one percent of respondents had volunteered in the last year, with thelargest percentage of outlets being informal in nature. Impresively, ten percent of respondents volunteered over thirtyhours a month. Eighty-nine percent of respondents are currently registered to vote, and eighty-two percent had votedin the last presidential election. Other exciting findings were that eighty-two percent of repondents believe that the all-volunteer force has worked well and seventy-three percent support their service members continued military service.

Sixty percent would advise a young person to join the military and seventy percent expressed satisfaction with themilitary lifestyle.

Public Policy Dont Ask Dont Tell: When asked about the effects, if any, of the reversal of Dont Ask, Dont Tell(DADT), a majority of respondents felt the repeal had no impact. In fact, seventy-two percent of respondents said ithad no impact on their service members ability to do his/her job, sixty-five percent said it had no impact on theirservice members desire to re-enlist or stay in the military, and sixty percent said it had no impact on their servicemembers morale. Fifty-six percent said the repeal had no impact on mission readiness or national security, and fifty-five percent of spouses said it had no impact on their military support groups morale.


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Social Media: Seventy-seven precent of respondents indicated that social media is important or very important forcommunicating with their service member during deployment, while seventy-one percent reported using social mediato connect with other military families. Additionally, while forty-five percent of overall respondents said their servicemembers unit uses Facebook to disseminate information, only sixteen percent said they use social media to stayconnected with the unit. The top three resources for online information-gathering were split between official and non-official sources - Facebook, Military OneSource, and Military.com.

TheCivicLivesofServiceMembersandTheirFamiliesWhen asked the reason for joining the Armed Forces, ninety-one percent cited To Serve His/Her Country as themost important reason. Receiving educational benefits was listed as the next most important driver, supporting therole of a strong GI Bill as a recruitment tool moving forward and as a way to bring bright minds into the military thusadvancing the quality of recruits serving our country.i

Respondents of this years survey show similar levels of the civic engagement and volunteerism when compared withthe 2010 survey, even increasing in the percentage of respondents actively volunteering in 2012. Eighty-one percentreported some form of volunteering in the last year, up thirteen points from 2010s findings. This corresponds to aslight increase in volunteering in the national population as well.ii Additionally, new questions in this section centeredon other pro-social behaviors designed to integrate the military family into their local communities. The findingsindicate that military families engage in the type of social and civic behaviors that build healthy communities. Forexample, eighty-nine percent of respondents were registered to vote. And, in the last presidential election, eighty-twopercent of respondents said they voted, almost twenty points higher than the sixty-four percent national average for thesame election.iii

Additionally, eighty-two percent of respondents believe that relying on volunteers has worked well for the armedforces and sixty-eight percent supported some type of required national service, either in the form of military or non-

MeasuresofCivicEngagement


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military service. Thirty-three percent had given money to a charity at least two or three times in the past year, whileforty-one percent had offered to look after a friends plants, pets, or home while they were away.

It is remarkable that sixty-eight percent of respondents who have volunteered for military service and believe an allvolunteer force is effective also see the value of trying to impart those positive experiences to others in a mandatorynational service program in military, public, or non-profit settings. Those same respondents also exhibit more pro-social behaviors such as being registered voters, volunteering regularly, and giving to charity. These results support the

recent RAND initiated history of the all-volunteer force, that posits a rich combination of social, economic, andpolitical factors influence the effectiveness of the all-volunteer force.iv Additionally, research into the sociologicalconcept of social capital would suggest that the complex, informal networks and relationships that are developedthrough the military family experience (e.g. building trust, reciprocity, informal volunteering, shared sacrifice, andcooperation between families) are the building blocks for a communitarian approach to democracy that would valueservice and see it as an important way to contribute to the public interest.v

JoiningForcestoBridgetheCivilian-MilitaryDisconnectWhile the contributing factors may vary, this survey contains strong indications that the military community keenlybelieves the general population does not truly understand or appreciate sacrifices made by military families. Otherresearch on veterans, conducted by Pew Research Center, has found a comparable level of disconnect, with eighty-fourpercent of modern-era veterans saying that the general public does not have an understanding of the problems thatthose in the military face.vi With ninety-five percent of respondents in agreement in this survey, the reason for thisdisconnect is not easy to pin down, but it is consistent with previous findings from 2009 (ninety-two percent) and 2010(ninety-four percent).

In 2012,

95% of

respondents

felt a

disconnect

Towhatextentdoyouagreewiththestatement:

Thegeneralpublic(withoutclosetiestothemilitary)doesnottrulyunderstand

orappreciatethesacrificesmadebyservicemembersandtheirfamilies.


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Previous research has suggested the lack of affiliation of someone to a military member may be one of the key causes ofthis disconnect, with a smaller share of Americans serving in the military since the peace time era between WWI andWWII.vii As the size of the military shrinks in the coming months, the connection between military and the broaderpopulation may grow more distant. Former Defense Secretary Gates agreed with this family member correlation,stating that a smaller military means fewer Americans will have relatives serving and this number will continue todiminish. He also stated any lack of military awareness may be driven by the fact that young people today do not haveto face the possibility of a draft.viii Retired Admiral Mike Mullen, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has

suggested the retreat of the military from the civilian awareness can be associated with Base Realignment and Closures(BRAC), saying that we have BRACed our way out of significant portions of the country.ix

First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden have paid substantial attention to the issue of awareness of the militarywithin civilian communities. Under their leadership, theJoining Forces movement has focused on sacrifices made by themilitary community and the unique challenges faced by families. Because ofJoining Forces, awareness is being raised andpublic and private sector initiatives are gaining momentum. The most recent example of progress made is theestablishment of best practices for states to follow so that military spouses can more easily manage occupationalcertifications across state lines.x

However,Joining Forces has been in existence for just one year and most military families still have not heard about it.

Seventy-two percent of survey respondents were unaware of its goals to mobilize all sectors of society and raiseawareness of the unique needs and strengths of military families. Most of those who have participated in a Joining Forcesevent to date have done so because they were involved with a partnering organization, which highlights the importanceof support organizations as vehicles for information transference within the military community.

CONCLUSIONAfter a decade of war, military families are generally coping well with the unique stressors of military family life.However, as indicated by the results detailed here, community and government leaders can do more to help makemilitary life more sustainable.

While military families have the same life experiences common to many families, including balancing work and family,parenting issues such as care-giving and education concerns, and maintaining healthy relationships, they also haveunique stressors relating to the requirements of the military lifestyle. Many factors of military family life (namely,frequent separation and the subsequent pre-deployment and reintegration processes, and the issues surroundingfrequent relocation) produce added pressures that need to be examined and addressed in order to maintain health andwellness within both the military and family contexts.

Todays military families are accommodating repeated and sustained deployments with all of their varied,accompanying effects. Since September 11, 2001, more than two million service members have been deployed, with alarge percentage of those serving multiple deployments, some as many as five tours of duty.xi In this survey, NationalGuard and Reserve service members had been separated from their families for almost the same amount of time as

active duty service members, revealing their integral role in augmenting the active duty force, as well as highlightingthe departure from their traditional roles. Service members themselves are surviving injuries, head trauma, and othercatastrophic injuries their predecessors did not because of the vast improvements in medical technology. However,these injuries, both physical and non-physical, have an impact on the family unit and are additional and substantialstressors upon a small segment of the population as well as the agencies and community organizations designed tosupport them.

However, there is also good news in perceived benefits of affiliation to the military. Recent research has shown despitethe added stress placed on military families from repeated separations and OPTEMPO requirements, military divorcerates are the same or lower than civilian rates across age, race, and employment status. xii While the authors of the study


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indicate several possibilities for these results, ranging from competitive wartime pay, family support programs, andrespect towards institutions in general, the resilience of military marriages, after ten years of war, is definitely apositive finding. And, while they acknowledge challenges associated with military service, military families in thisstudy generally feel like the all-volunteer force has worked well, support the continued service of their own servicemember, and would recommend military service to their children, bolstering previous research which found thesame.xiii These results also point to the strong pro-social tendencies and civic assets that reside within the militarycommunity. Respondents in this survey volunteered at incredible rates; both informal and formal volunteering, voting

behavior, and charitable and altruistic activities all had high levels of respondent participation. Impressively, tenpercent of respondents volunteer time that is the equivalent of a part-time job. Perhaps emphasis on service andvolunteerism is one way to bridge the disconnect between the military and civilian populations with regard to theexperiences of modern day military families. Military families know they must rely on one another in order to benefitthe whole of their community and have learned that service to others can, in fact, be a healing gesture for themselves.

We hope this report prompts more dialogue about the unique experiences of military families, and not just theirchallenges, but what they bring to their communities as civic assets. Our military community is vibrant, resilient, andstands ready to meet the impact of shifting national security requirements. However, in order to be successful, policiesmust adapt to the changing needs of our military force and strengthen the support environment around them.

WorksCited

i Strum, F. (16 May 2008). A New GI Bill for the 21st Century: Honoring Our Troops and Creating Tomorrows Leaders. TheBackgrounder: Truman National Security Project. http://www.trumanproject.org/files/backgrounders/backgrounder_5-16-08.pdf.ii United States Department of Labor. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (22 February 2012). Volunteering in the United States, 2011.Economic News Release. http://www.bls.gov/news.release/volun.nr0.htm.iii United States Census Bureau. (20 July 2009). Voter Turnout Increases by 5 Million in 2008 Presidential Election, U.S. CensusBureau Reports. http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/voting/cb09-110.htmliv Rostker, Bernard. (2006). I Want You! The Evolution of the All-Volunteer Force, Santa Monica, Calif: RAND Corporation,MG-265-RC.v

Putnam, Robert. (2000). Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community (New York: Simon and Schuster).

viPew Research Center (October, 2011).vii Pew Research Center. (23 November 2011). The Military-Civilian Gap: Fewer Family Connections.http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2011/11/23/the-military-civilian-gap-fewer-family-connections/.viii Ewing, P. (20 February 2011). Defense leaders fear military-civilian disconnect. Politico.http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0211/49838.html#ixzz1mmEEqhEW.ix Thompson, M. (10 November 2011). An Army Apart: The Widening Military-Civilian Gap. TIME Magazine.http://battleland.blogs.time.com/2011/11/10/an-army-apart-the-widening-military-civilian-gap/.x U.S. Department of the Treasury and U.S. Department of Defense. (2012, February). Supporting our Military Families: BestPractices for Streamlining Occupational Licensing Across State Lines.xi Savitsky, Laura, Illingworth, Maria, and Megan DuLaney. (2009). Civilian Social Work: Serving The Military and VeteranPopulations. Social Work, (54)4:327-399.xii Karney, Benjamin, Loughran, David, and Michael Pollard. (2011). Comparing Marital Status and Divorce Status in Civilian andMilitary Populations.Journal of Family Issues, April 2012.http://jfi.sagepub.com/content/early/2012/04/01/0192513X12439690.abstract.xiii Pew Research Center (October, 2011).

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Documents

Blue Star Families 2012 Military Family Lifestyle Survey Executive Summary